5 things to know before choosing your baby’s name

In life there are big decisions. And then there are big decisions, such as deciding your baby’s name. Which in my opinion has got to be right up there, at the top of the list with being one of the most difficult decisions you may ever make.

Or perhaps not.

Perhaps you knew straight away from the start, exactly what you are or were going to call your baby. If so, oh how I envy you! For many of us, including my good self, well it’s not so easy is it?

Now 32 weeks pregnant with my second baby (a boy!), choosing a name for our bundle of joy has been a bit of a challenge. Perhaps it’s just me, but personally I’ve found picking a boy’s name so hard! Like really hard!

When I was pregnant with my daughter, we chose not to find out the sex, but we had a couple of names for a girl and just one for a boy. Our daughter’s name – Elsie Florence – was easy to decide on. Florence was always going to be her middle name as that’s where she was well, made!

And as for Elsie? Well we literally turned on the TV one Saturday night and heard someone say they were “looking for Elsie”. Instantly we both loved the name and then a couple hours later when my husband opened a document, the name at the top of it – as if by magic – was, yep you’ve cracked it, Elsie.

So it was pretty much a given that if we had a girl, Elsie Florence would be her name. And so it is. This time round, even though knowing the sex should make it easier…it’s been much trickier.

Thankfully we have now decided on our little man’s name. We’re happy with it. Pleased as punch even, but blimey it’s taken some doing.

What’s in a name? Well quite a lot actually, which is why it’s so difficult yet important to get right. So for anyone who may be tearing their hair out thinking of the perfect name or battling with their other half over it, here are a few tips which may just help. Good luck!

Thank goodness for Google! (And other good search engines.) If you're struggling for names, these days, you only have to hop online to come across all kinds of lists of baby names. (You'll find plenty of inspiration on here too.)

Search for them, go through them and make a note of any that you love. Also, think of relative's names. Past and present. Look at the names of authors on book shelves or actually sit and watch a film's credits for the first time ever. You may be pleasantly surprised.

So if you want something a little different, go for it! Why not?! You could always go wild with the first name and give them a more sensible / traditional middle name that they can 'fall back on' if need be.

Seriously. Just don't. The thing with names is that everyone has an opinion on them, because they are, as you might suspect very, very personal!

So keep all the names that you love firmly under your hat, even when people badger you to find out. (Which they will.)

If you can! We haven't got one this time as we just cannot decide on another name that we love as much, but if you can have a back up, then do. For both sexes too!

That way if your boy turns out to be a girl (imagine!) or for some reason your baby doesn't suit the name you've chosen, you'll be OK.

Tough decisions require guts and no more so than when it comes to naming your child. You have to go with your instinct and your heart on this one. It really is the only way.

(Just please don't call them 'little hotdog' I beg of you, as my daughter will never forgive you. *winks*)

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good tips. i so regret telling family about calling my son felix before he was born, i had nothing but negative comments from mil “it’s cat food” or “sounds like a pet name not a boys name” ugh it was so annoying. in the end i shouted that she’d named her children what she wanted to and we were going to name ours what we wanted to!

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